Teaching Life

Today is President’s Day, so here are some fun presidential facts. As a teacher, these can be used in the classroom or just to impress your friends.

•  There are FOURTEEN presidents that also served as vice presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore,  Johnson, Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, Nixon, LB Johnson, Ford, and George Bush.
• Obama is our 44th president, but there are actually only 43 presidents. Cleveland was elected twice (non-consecutive terms)and was the 22nd and 24th president.
• George Washington wore dentures but they were NOT made of wood, but human teeth, animal teeth, or ivory.  He wore size 13 shoe, had no formal education, was the only president that won unanimously and did not live in Washington D.C.
• The most common university the Presidents attended is HARVARD.  Eight presidents attended Harvard including John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Teddy Roosevelt, F.D Roosevelt, R.B. Hayes, John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
• William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech (1 hour, 45 minutes) but only served 30 days in the White House after dying of pneumonia.
• Abraham Lincoln was the first president to die by assassination.  He had no formal education, was the first President that wore a beard.  He was also the tallest president at 6′ 4″ and has been often cited as the country’s greatest president.
• John F. Kennedy was the youngest president to be inaugurated at 43.  (Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest to BE president at 42).  Kennedy established the Peace Corps and won a Pulitzer Prize.  During Kennedy’s presidency, the Berlin wall went up, the world came the closest EVER to nuclear war,MLK, Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech, and John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth.
• Ronald Reagan was the oldest president and the first president to get divorced. He was a radio and major league baseball announcer and also had a movie and television career before becoming president.  He changed his political affiliation to Republican in 1962. He created a relationship with the Soviet Union that eventually played a significant part of the Soviet’s downfall in 1990.

Many more Presidential Facts or Lesson Ideas can be found at http://www.littleknownfactsshow.com/presidents.html or http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/.

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